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Iowa man gets life sentence for death of baby found in swing

Associated Press
Published 3:29 p.m. CT Dec. 4, 2018

Zachary Paul Koehn enters the courtroom for sentencing in Waterloo, Iowa Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports Judge Richard Stochl on Tuesday sentenced 29-year-old Koehn to life sentence without parole, as was mandatory under state law. Koehn was convicted earlier of first-degree murder in the death of his son, 4-month-old Sterling Koehn, who was found in a maggot-infested baby swing last year. (Jeff Reinitz/The Courier via AP)(Photo: Jeff Reinitz, AP)

NEW HAMPTON, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa man has been sentenced to life in prison for the death of his infant son who was found in a maggot-infested baby swing.

The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports Judge Richard Stochl on Tuesday sentenced 29-year-old Zachary Paul Koehn to the life sentence without parole, as was mandatory under state law. Koehn was earlier convicted of first-degree murder in the death of 4-month-old Sterling Koehn.

Medics called to an Alta Vista apartment in August 2017 found the infant dead in the swing in a dark, sweltering bedroom. An autopsy showed he'd died of malnutrition, dehydration and an E. coli infection caused by being left in a maggot-infested diaper for up to two weeks.

A trial for the baby's mother, 21-year-old Cheyanne Harris, is set for January.